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Tom Cruise Biography
Too much insignificant detail for my taste in reading biographies.While the author is very deliberate in his research, and I did not find fault with his evidence, much of what is revealed about Tom's past and parentage was not important to me as a reader.I actually skimmed through the book to find items of interest and then put it down.

A fascinating profile on Cruise and Scientology
Morton has been criticized for not having directly interviewed Cruise and his former spouses.He also was criticized for not accepting the invitation of Scientology leaders to visit their headquarters to get their side of the story.The truth is Morton never had access to Cruise or his former spouses.And, for him to enter the Scientology compound would have been giving his life over to this cult.Thus, Morton did not act differently than any one else could have in this situation.What he did instead is interview tens of Cruise childhood friends, former teachers, former Scientologists, and tons of people around Hollywood that he quotes directly in the book.That's in addition to studying all the public media on those subjects.Just by reviewing the extensive bibliography you can tell Morton has studied every aspects of his subject in exhaustive details.

Morton's research paid off.Invariably, he quotes Cruise stating something in a press interview such as that he moved 15 times during his childhood.And, then Morton correcting Cruise quote and stating that it was more likely to be just 5 times based on Morton's interviews with many of his childhood friends.Cruise also states several times in press interviews that he had a debilitating dyslexia and that only Scientology learning technology cured him.Morton actually takes other Cruise quotes that directly contradict that indicating that he was managing reading perfectly well throughout high school.He also confirms that with former teachers.So, you get a lot of "... he said that... but, I confirmed otherwise..."

The leaders of Scientology released a 15 page letter stating that this book was a biased all out attack on Scientology.They also sued the publisher for $113 million.But, all that stuff is public knowledge.You can google Scientology and find tens of articles in the NY Times, WSJ and other newspapers and magazines.You can find testimonials of numerous former Scientologists confirming Morton's take on Scientology.Can they all be liars?

Cruise is not your usual star.Although many stars are affiliated with Scientology, Cruise is the only one with a missionary zeal to convert the World.He personally traveled to numerous U.S. embassies throughout Europe to fight off his perceived persecution of Scientologists.

The difference between a cult and a religion is that a religion is accepted.And, Cruise is doing everything he can to render Scientology acceptable.It is a challenging task because by promoting the legitimacy of Scientology he has invariably rejected (as all Scientologists do) a whole lot of stuff that make up our society.Those include the fields of psychiatry, psychology, medicine, and public education.Scientology also rejects social and religious tolerance and readily approves of family break up if members do not join Scientology.Yet, intolerant Scientology wants to be tolerated.

The clash between Cruise and Germany over his representing a German WWII hero who fought for democracy in the movie Valkyrie (Single-Disc Edition) is pretty fascinating.Germany is monitoring closely Scientology as they consider a dogmatic, dangerous cult not unlike Nazism that poses a real threat to their democracy.The Germans were outraged that a high profile representative of such a cult would play the role of their hero who died fighting Nazism.Cruise, however, considered that Germans essentially tyrannize Scientologists in a way reminiscing of their persecution of the Jews during WWII.

The years 2005-2006 especially impaired Cruise professional reputation.Within a few months he will publicly harass Brooke Shields for taking anti-depressant to ease her post-partum depression.But, Brooke Shields replies she does not take advice from someone who believes in space alien.Soon after, Cruise will "Jump the coach" on Ophrah Winfrey Show.And, on The Today Show he will insult Matt Lauer for not being aware of the vast superiority of Scientology over psychiatry that pseudo science.In 2006, Sumner Redstone, the Chairman of Viacom (parent company of Paramount), will fire Tom Cruise by not renewing his contract.Redstone will refer to Cruise strange behavior as the reason behind the break up.Epstein in The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies suggests that the reason behind the Paramount-Cruise break up was that Cruise made more money on the whole MI franchise than Paramount.And, Redstone would not have it any longer.Tom Cruise spends his 2006 New Year's Eve with his closest friend and leader of Scientology, David Miscavige, who gives a heated speech about the "global obliteration of psychiatry... [and Scientology's] plans for world domination."Somewhat later, Vanity Fair will ask on its cover "Has Tom Lost His Marbles?"During this strange period, Cruise popularity will plummet.A Gallup/USA Today poll showed that only 35% had a favorable opinion of him in 2006 down from 60% in 2005.

The women of Tom Cruise are a pretty formidable bunch.Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman, Sofia Vergara, and Penelope Cruz are no wall flowers.Besides being all stunningly beautiful, they all have strong personalities.Mimi Rogers is the one who introduced him to Scientology.Their respective drive and intensity ultimately drove them apart.Meanwhile, all the others invariably left because of their discomfort with Scientology Orwellian culture.They were all fortuitous to have the strength to split and run when they could.

Unlike her predecessors, Katie Holmes is a victim.Sixteen years younger than Cruise, she seems captured in a "Stepford Wife" and "Rosemary's Baby" situation.Many Scientologists believe that if she gives birth to ason, it would be the reincarnation of Ron Hubbard, the Scientology prophet.To this cult dismay, the first natural child was a girl.

Scientology has split so many families as spouses and siblings do not talk to each other when some refuse to join Scientology when others have.Cruise himself has paid a heavy personal price.Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, and Sofia Vergara all left him because they chose freedom and family over Scientology.His own mother will join Scientology and have to renounce her own faith (she was a Catholic Eucharist minister) and her husband of 20 years in order to be able to still see her beloved son.

Cruise has also paid a very heavy professional price for his missionary support of Scientology. You can see a clear break in his career.Pre 2006, when he must have been one of the most powerful and richest actors in Hollywood scoring one blockbuster after another.Then since the 2006 break up with Paramount, he has done very little.He has produced and acted in two movies that hardly left a footprint (Lions For Lambs (Widescreen Edition)and Valkyrie) either financially or among critics.

At this stage, Cruise remains a conundrum.Is he the most dangerous actor in the world as Morton suggests?Or is he the most tragic and high profile victim of the cult he is so devoted to?Or, is he both?

it's ok...
The book was ok...there was a ton of information in it about his normal childhood- excruciating detail about the mundane, really. The part that was fascinating was towards the end- his involvement with scientology. The book does a great job of providing a lot of detail in that area, and that was really interesting.

Juicy, Disgusting, Thoroughly Enjoyable
Very interesting study of Scientology and of a cult member. Tom Cruise desperately needs anti-psychotic medication. The book has a ton of quotes from people in previous and current inner circles with Mr. Cruise, making it credible for me. At the heart of it, it's sad, I feel sorry for this man who is so out of touch with reality, and for his children and Katie Holmes. FREE KATIE!

good read
When I bought mine it was not obtainable in the UK. I got mine from Amazon US via Australia.

Shows Tom Cruise to be a dangerous man if all what is written about him is true. Also indicates how someone can be brainwashed to believe in this weird Scientology cult like he has been.

Scientology, after reading this book is more fiction than Superman or ET. ... Read more

Product Description
One of Hollywood's most succesful actors, tom Cruise has starred in numerous films since his debut in Risky Business. Read about his life and career, his major film roles, his involvement with Scientology and his two marriages. ... Read more

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Contains intimate details of Cruise's first and second marriage never before revealed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Flaws and Applause
Wensley Clarkson's portrait of Tom Cruise seems balanced and well researched. We see Cruise as a competent actor whose private life is sometimes detrimental to his reputation. The incident cited by Clarkson on page 84 confirms this impression:
'Cruise was in New York's Hard Rock Cafe with his buddy Russell Crowe. To entertain the crowd, the two actors had been reciting some lines from 'Hamlet'. It was an impromptu performance and warmly received. They should have left it at that, but the booze quickly took control. Cruise, wearing a T-shirt that read 'Instant Idiot... Just Add Beer', did his hilarious Donald Duck walk along the bar while Crowe threw cell phones at him. The two finally fell into a stupefied heap and were hogtied byCrowe's friend, the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, and dragged out to a waiting limo. Some money changed hands and the incident was hushed up.'

Wensley Clarkson's biography is a revelation.

Good book about a handsome jerk
Tom Cruise is handsome and misguided.

As an actor he is ok.

But his support for Scientology shows what a buffoon he is.

Pretty good book
Book reveals some of the details of Cruise's Scientology involvement (probably unnecessary now, in the light of his recent flood of interviews) but is even more enlightening when the author tells how the cult tried to shut him up while he researched Cruise's membership in Scientology. ... Read more

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In the early 1980's, Tom Cruise was a brash eighteen-year-old with a cocky grin and an irrepressible manner. Since then, he has made the difficult journey from glamour boy to respected actor and bankable star. Robert Sellers shows Cruise as a nomadic and insecure child, diagnosed with dyslexia, a high school student working part-time to help support his divorced mother and three sisters and a young hopeful turning dreams into reality in the tough world of Hollywood. An absorbing treatment of a gifted actor who also happens to be an interesting human being. ... Read more

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Hollywood moguls, gangsters and silver screen stars have been obsessed with their homes since the inception of the movie business and the larger entertainment industry. Their self-involved and detailed needs resulted in grandiose monster-sized homes, which dotted the landscape from old Hollywood to Malibu with enclaves of celebrity shrines in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

NO STARS
This is not a book but a short article with few details and no pictures.Very deceiving.Not recommended. ... Read more

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If you want to specialize in selling cruises, or just want to understand the cruise industry in depth, Selling Cruises, Don't Miss the Boat is the book for you. Written by Tom and Joanie Ogg CTC, MCC, this book leaves nothing to the imagination. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Selling Cruises, dont miss the boat
this is the cruise agents bible for selling cruises.It is jam packed with information detailing how to sell cruises, booking the cruise and familiarizing yourself with the industry.All your questions are answeredin this awsome book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A great little collectible
In it's 80 pages, this tiny little book (three inches tall) gives a great introduction to the work of the celebrity we know as Tom Cruise.This is terrific for trivia buffs!There are great photos, a summary of his career so far, and a few quotesby Tom and those close to him.It's a nice treasure for the Hollywood junkie.

A GOOD READ
I read the book and thought that it was very well done, it had a very captivating plot, and it wentinto great description about one of hollywoods best actors, Tom Crusie, how is roll playing Lestat De Lioncourt, affected his life, to his greatest, most horrifying moments in his life, truly unique, with a profound endearment, that with-holds the human heart in an iron cage. I loved it, and thought it over, and said, it was one of the most interesting reads, I had ever read, and now, Tom Cruise is one of my favorite actors, with his characters, and his motives, and his thoughts, about his children, and his wife. In this book, not only will you find, Tom, but all of us, locked together in hatred, with a sadness, of hope, and pain, with this pain, we can see, not only the truth, but the harsh fiction with-in our lives. Tom Crusie is a very deep person, spiritualy, with his thoughts, and his great chararcter, you will fall in love with his movies, and his whole look upon life, death, and truth, to the great subjects of fiction, in this world. The plot, already holds a keene fasination to most people, andwith its stories about Tom, makes it more captivating, I really loved, and I thought it was sad too. How his life affected alot of people, not only mine, but others as well, I loved the book, as much I do Tom Cruise. ... Read more

Product Description
Mission: Impossible is an 1996 action thriller directed by Brian De Palma and stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. The plot follows Hunt's (Tom Cruise) mission to uncover the mole within the CIA who has framed him for the murders of his entire IMF team. Work on the script had begun early with late filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne were brought in. In fact, the film went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but neither Koepp nor Towne were satisfied with the story that leads up to these events. U2 band members Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton produced their own version of the original theme song. The song went into top ten charts around the world and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. The movie was the third highest grossing of the year. ... Read more

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Follows the life and career of the popular actor, focusing on his struggle with dyslexia, his starring roles in such movies as "Risky Business," "Top Gun," and "Jerry Maguire," and his involvement in the Church of Scientology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A more adult level recent biography is needed.
I knew this was a kids' book, but it seemed to be the most interesting and recent biography of Tom Cruise, based on the reviews that I looked at on this website.I am a very big Tom Cruise fan, so I decided to take the risk.

I was a bit shocked to find out that the customer review on this website that claimed that Cruise had made punnish errors in reading movie titles seems to have been entirely fabricated.I don't understand why something like that isn't removed from the site.

The book was ok.I learned some things about Cruise's career.There were some nice photos. Still, it wasn't an adult book.I would have liked something more meaty and in depth.I guess that would be hard to write, since he's not a person who likes to reveal intimate details about himself.I suppose eventually some person in his entourage will start talking and we'll actually find out something about him.We'll just have to be patient.

This would be a good book to give to a child who is dyslexic and feeling discouraged about learning to read, though.

A good starting point...
This cute little book gives insight into Tom's career from the beginning through his role in "Jerry Maguire".It covers his early interest in acting, as well as his struggle with dyslexia (which seems to be mentioned on almost every page).I gained a deeper respect for Cruise after reading about his trials dealing with the handicap and his non-compromising dedication to perfecting his job as actor, producer, director.This is definitely an enjoyable book!

Pig-ignorance no bar to fame and fortune
The public only see the glamour - but Phelan Powell shows the significant obstacles Tom Cruise has overcome in order to live his life of pampered opulence. In Cruise's case dyslexia was the obstacle - it nearly cost him the part of the barman in "Cocktail" (he thought it was a film about cockatiels and told his agent he "didn't do parrots") and he bought his own wildebeeste to research the part of Lt Maverick Mitchell in "Top Gnu". ... Read more